I hate to break up the McCarthy lovefest but he essentiualy was a paranoid bully who died a drunken failure, a foolish choice for hero worship if there ever was one. Trying to reframe him, as Coulter did only plays to the caricature of a raving wingnut. American history offers many more examples of people who spoke out against communism effectively, Reagan would be one, McCarthy is not one.
Hate to rain on your liberal take on McCarthy, but what exactly defines him as paranoid?
Excuse me, but if you can find it, pick up Buckley and Bozell's McCarthy and His Enemies. In the back is a detailed list of the charges made by Joe McCarthy and the actual facts of the cases. It shows that, as has been pointed out here, SENATOR McCARTHY WAS RIGHT.